I keep hearing about this happening more and more, especially with Spiro, and unfortunately this has happened to me as well every time I took birth control (Yaz) for more than a few months I think our bodies do get used to it and adjust. What helped me is getting on a PCOS diet, exercising, and taking Inositol supplements, but I'm struggling to commit to the diet as it is very hard to follow, and I still breakout in typical hormonal acne on my jaw.

I'm a girl and whenever my testosterone spikes I also get dreams like that, and I always know that I'm going to get some painful bumps in the next few days. It's really sad. Like how are we supposed to even enjoy sex when we end up associating it with acne? Fucked up. Sadly I don't know how much you can do about it. I don't know if abstinence will do any good. I've read on a body building forum that testosterone goes down after orgasm (though it would be soaring RIGHT after) and it's going to a peak a week from then. In that case maybe just masturbate twice a week so it doesn't get a chance to build up? Haven't tried this but kinda had this theory for a while.

I don't know why but I feel like this is just super hard. Last year it seemed way easier for me to regulate my fat and sugar intake and eat mostly healthy, months later I struggle just to not overeat on top of already eating unhealthy. PCOS diet, while it may have worked, is very bland and depressing to me. And I'm always starving trying to limit my calorie intake. I think the only thing that's actually made decent difference for me is when I stuck with 30g or so fat a day (very hard now, because it's so little), and maybe 15g of sugar. Of course lots of salmon. Maybe I just got fed up with it. I just don't know what to do. It seems the choices are either being depressed due to having to eat food I don't enjoy or being depressed due to acne. I don't know what to do. Advice?

Day 1-28 update (a week late): So I had one large breakout on the bottom on my chin and about 4 medium ones. The topical antibiotics seem to be working for the closed comedones as I have almost none now and hardly any new ones popping up, but I still get inflamed acne. Wondering if it will get any better if I give it another month or two. Who knows. Diet is hard. I can't really stick to it anymore, same with lifestyle, it's all been kind of out of whack. Getting a lot of mood swings making regular things hard to deal with. I'm sure that has to do with hormonal imbalance, or bc. I need to figure out how to get back into healthy lifestyle but I just feel so exhausted and healthy food just makes me sad

Have any of you guys tried these? I got them prescribed this week because the pill, diet, lifestyle, or supplements won't clear my hormonal acne anymore. In my experience every time I find something that works, it eventually stops working/being enough. Is that likely to happen with these topicals? My derm said that wasn't the question, that it was about whether it's going to be enough to clear me up. I just like to think ahead. I'm so tired of thinking I finally found something that works, only to get a bad breakout 8 months later when I haven't changed a thing.

Day 1-28 update: so last cycle wasn't any better. I got about 3 large breakouts and overall 15 large/medium/whiteheads. I called my new derm and got prescribed Aczone during the day and Veltin at night. I started today, so let's see how this goes. I have been eating worse because I'm assuming the topicals will make it easier on my skin, but I'll still try to stick to an overall healthy diet.

When hormonal treatments fail or stop working, is that the next logical step? Has it helped your hormonal acne? Did you eventually build resistance? How long did you take it for? Did acne come back the same/worse than before? Let's see everyone's experiences.

Hi there. I was looking for a good product for hyperpigmentation and so far glycolic acid lotion has been the best thing for me. It really does help with the redness. I use the 10% one by Alpha Hydrox. The color will even out, however the texture will probably need either peels or laser to get better. I don't have much experience with that but I hope you find what works for you. Good luck!

Not sure, you'd have to ask, sorry. We were fortunate enough to have insurance that covered it. But I can't imagine it would be more than $30. BTW a little goes a long way...you only need a pea-size amount and the tubes are generous. We're still using the original tube we got in April.
That's good to know, thanks!

Thank you everyone for your replies. The reason I'm at a loss now is because I've been browsing this forum for a while and I have tried pretty much everything I have stumbled upon here. BC, Inositol (very helpful but it seemed bumping up dosage made it worse, so now I'm confused), diet/exercise, benzoyl peroxide (best topical treatment for me yet), azelaic acid, salicylic acid, glycolic acid (second best topical for me), vitex (tried it in the past), Spiro (can't take it because it gives me bad side effects), and Saw Palmetto (made my skin a lot worse). I'm reluctant when it comes to trying DIM because of the confusing way it works, it seems there's no clear explanation anywhere. Testosterone has been the main culprit of my acne for years and I want to tread lightly when it comes to hormonal treatments that may increase it.
So what I'm doing now is use bp/glycolic acid together and apart depending on dryness and take yaz (yasmin and diane 35 also gave me weird side effects like spiro so that's not an option), Inositol, Zinc, Vit A, Vit D3, and Cranberry pills for unrelated issue that contain some Vit E and C. I can't take multivitamin because it always makes me sick not to mention it usually has iodine or other things I don't want. I try to stick with diet rich on Omega 3 and generally low fat, low GI diet, and I think it makes some difference.
I haven't tried the regimen but from my understanding it seems to have the same old ingredients I'm already using so honestly I don't really see a point to it. I like to use dove soap or some simple cleanser to calm my skin from all the topical treatments. I also use St Ives scrub almost every day otherwise I get even more comedones.
Thank you for the info! I suppose getting on antibiotics and tretinoin would be worth a shot. I'll ask my derm. How much would tretinoin be without insurance?

Not sure what to do now. Healthy diet, lifestyle, inositol, yaz, vitamins. Every time I find something new that helps, it only works for a few months at best, then acne starts to slowly come back. Mine has been getting worse and worse every single month since May. I wonder why it ever clears up at all. It seems any cure works for 8 months tops. Does anyone else have this problem? I feel like this forum is better than a derms office that's why I've always been reluctant to go to one, but at this point I think I'm gonna have to start looking for one. I don't know if it will do anything but I can't think of anything else honestly.

Day 1-28 update: So last cycle was pretty bad. I got 3 large breakouts and too many mediums to count. I lowered my Inositol dosage back to 1.8g. I'm one week and 2 days into current cycle and I already have 1 large and 1 medium breakout.